The Truth Would Be too Much
by Katty3
Summary: Sequel to "Anything More than the Truth" The Golden Pair is disolving in a painfully drawn out fashion, and it seems that neither boy can do anything to stop it. Interlude to end up. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

The Truth Would Be too Much

by Katty  
  
In the oddly quiet Seigaku High School Tennis club room the sibilant slide of nylon was deafening as Oishi pulled off his club issue sweatpants and folded them haphazardly. He his tugged on his uniform pants and buttoned the waistband, which settled easily into place then slid just a bit to low. Oishi tugged them upwards.  
  
The bottom hem of his black school uniform pants still hung on the floor, but his mother had insisted they buy the larger size, because she had insisted that Oishi would grow into them, and she was so insistent that Oishi was loathe to insist that he probably wouldn't be growing much more. He pulled off his practice shirt and formed it into a loose cloth ball that fell apart as he shoved it roughly into his dark blue shoulder bag.  
  
Oishi looked around, settled his vision in the direction of the door, and sighed, tugging absently at one of his black forelocks. He wondered in a sort of half formed way why he was still alone. He'd already finished sweeping the locker room, but Eiji still hadn't returned from this first- year garbage duties.  
  
He turned from the door and pulled on his school uniform shirt and threw all of his considerable concentration into buttoning it; his fingers flew down the front of his shirt. He bent to grab his tennis shoes from the floor and was immediately distracted by the chipped paint on the edge of Eiji's locker. He paused to pick at it with one blunt, somewhat chewed fingernail for a moment before straightening up and opening his locker. He removed his black uniform shoes then tossed in his tennis shoes, which slapped the locker with a dull metallic thud that Oishi could feel in his chest.  
  
He pulled on his black school shoes, still preoccupied by the chipped paint. Oishi crouched down and picked at it with a fingernail once again, wondering if anyone else had ever just sat here and done the same. Idly wondered what that hypothetical person could have been thinking on the cool locker room floor. His thoughts become fixated on this hypothetical person and the rest of the club room melted away, the colors oozing together and pooling on the floor as he continued to pick reflectively at the blue paint.  
  
"Hey, Oishi!"  
  
The former vice-captain's head snapped up from its bent position and into the sharp edge of his conveniently opened top locker. Oishi put an ineffective hand to his throbbing skull. Tears swelled at the corners of his clenched eyes as he sucked in a breath through gritted teeth.  
  
The redhead gasped audibly, "Oh, damn..." Eiji's eyes were wide and he couldn't manage to collect his thoughts well enough to assemble them into a sentence.  
  
"I...I didn't..." his right hand moved forward and back in a sort of halting two-step,"...are you..." Outstretched fingers finally found their determination and moved decidedly towards the site of injury. In a fit of preservation Oishi knocked his doubles partner's hand away with an instinctive wave of his free arm.  
  
Eiji's arm fell loosely at his side as Oishi managed to peel open one watery eye and look up with a tight smile. "No, it's fine, Eiji." He vaguely noticed that Eiji's cheeks were unnaturally pale and his eyes were unnaturally wide. The overall expression made something inside Oishi throb painfully before he squashed his own observation.  
  
"It's fine Eiji," he heard himself repeat through a muffled sort of ringing in his ears. "Just get changed so we can go."  
  
The tips of his flipped hair seemed to droop as Eiji dropped his head in an uncharacteristic little "okay."  
  
Oishi turned way as Eiji pulled his shirt up over his head. It had never bothered him before, Eiji unclothed, had never really registered. A crease formed between Oishi's brow and he tried to recall what that lack of awareness had felt like as he racked his mind for a reason to run from the room. He settled for walking to the far corner.  
  
He studied his face for a moment in the mirror by the sink. The corners of his eyes turned down instead of up. Oishi gingerly pulled his hand from the back of his head and grimaced at the smear of bright red in the center of his palm. He turned the rusty faucet and thrust his hand beneath the spray, vaguely hoping that his hair would clot the cut enough until he could take a shower. At least it wasn't bleeding much. He looked up at the mirror and his eyes stuck to the motion reflected on its surface. Eiji's white button-up billowed open as he bent to lace his black shoes. Oishi fixed his focus firmly back on his own face as he reached to turn off the water and grab a paper towel. His had just focused his attention on his nibbled cuticles while he dried between his fingers when a dismayed cry from behind caused him to start.  
  
He turned back to see Eiji staring down at his lopsided white collar with an expression of amused betrayal painting his animated face. Bright blue eyes looked up, expectantly. Oishi had explained to him far to many times to count—his patient tone increasingly strained each time—that if a shirt is buttoned from the top with the collar already lined up, the whole messy lopsided business can be avoided. It was an old joke by that point.  
  
Oishi smiled faintly, and with a decidedly staged look at his doubles partner, shook his head. The fidgeting redhead, for his part, swallowed his smile, unbuttoned then redid his shirt with extraordinarily rapid fingers and ghosting touches.  
  
Oishi snuck over to grab his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder quickly. It thumped against his hip, still a bit bruised from a nasty spill he'd taken during practice earlier in the week. He let out the breath he hadn't meant to hold, the torrent of air echoing off the cement walls, and turned to face his partner.  
  
"We should get going, huh?" Oishi asked, while Eiji grabbed his practice things and threw them into his bag with wild abandon. A white sock landed near Oishi's feet.  
  
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying." His practice shoes made an odd drum cadence as he carelessly tossed then into his locker, but his gleaming jewel red racket was settled lovingly into its case. Oishi tossed the sock at Eiji, who caught it with practiced ease.  
  
"San-kyu," he smiled broadly at his partner and Oishi could hardly contain his return grin. [1]  
  
"Yoru welucom." [2]  
  
Eiji threw the sock on top of his textbooks and pulled his own bag onto his shoulder and made a break for the door, not the least troubled by little things like zippers. Oishi watched in wide eyed horror as Eiji stepped purposefully out the door and a spare pair of black and white athletic briefs threatened to tumble over the edge of his bag and onto the cement.  
  
As Eiji was turning back around to see what was taking his doubles partner, Oishi's brain caught up and he made a lunge for it.  
  
"Wait, Eiji."  
  
"Eh?" Eiji's brows furrowed in confusion as Oishi grabbed and spun him around.  
  
Oishi sighed and he pushed the underwear back in the bag and grabbed the zipper. "You're going to lose your clothes if you go around with your bag wide open." The zipper made a click as it finished sealing the bags contents inside. Oishi sighed again, "You never think before you do something."  
  
The tone came out harsh, much harsher than intended, and the amused expression on Oishi's face, the one that would have made it all right was behind Eiji, who could only look at the ground.  
  
"...maybe you're right..."  
  
Oishi was already walking out the door. He looked over the shoulder strap of his bag, "Mmn? What was that, Eiji?"  
  
Eiji's head snapped up, grin affixed solidly to his face. "Nothing, nothing at all." Eiji hopped out of the doorway and jogged down the path to the front gate before turning and walking backwards as he talked at his following doubles partner. "I'm soo hungry!" he yelled as he kicked a little rock back along the path towards Oishi. He turned back around and started walking forward with his hands behind his head, legs kicking much higher then necessary. "Hey Oishi, let's stop and get some burgers."  
  
Oishi's steady pace faltered for a moment before he continued to follow the energetic boy, studying his shoes as he walked. "I can't today, Eiji. I told my mom I'd be home for supper."  
  
From somewhere far ahead of him, Oishi heard a faint "oh."  
  
The silence that fell between them was steady, impenetrable, and it ticked away like hours. Somehow, between those consciously silent breaths and eerily quiet steps they reached the front gate of Seigaku High School.  
  
Eiji fell back against the cement wall with an exasperated musical sigh and looked right at his doubles partner. "Is it really important?"  
  
Oishi blinked, "Well, not particularly."  
  
Eiji jumped forward and clapped his hands together, smile infecting his face. "Ah! Then you can just call you mom and tell her that you won't make it tonight." The bouncy tennis player started digging in one of his bag's unzipped side pockets, "You can just use my phone and..." he trailed off as he diverted all attention to navigating his bag's contents.  
  
Oishi let out his breath through his nose and looked at the intense concentration on his partners face as his arm rooted around in his bag pocket. "Eiji, I..."  
  
"I know it's in here somewhere..."  
  
"Eiji..."  
  
"I saw it just this morning when I...ah, here..."  
  
"Eiji!" The redhead immediately stopped handing the phone to Oishi mid- motion, eyes wide at the other's uncharacteristically strong tone.  
  
Oishi sighed and paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and remove the urge to shout from his voice, then continued in a very soft and patient tone. "I can't just skip out on my parents without any having a decent excuse."  
  
The words hung in the space between the Golden Pair for a long, painful moment, until Eiji broke the tense quite with a sort of vague "oh, right" as he turned away and slid his phone back into his bag.  
  
A sort of soft strangled noise escaped Oishi's throat as he reached for his retreating partner, his arm completely ineffective at filling the space between them. "Eiji...you know you could come over and eat with us..."  
  
The boy paused for a moment, head lifted ever so slightly at the suggestion, but it fell back down and his shoulders slumped as he buried his hands in his pockets. "No, I think I just want to go home now."  
  
Oishi pressed on, voice growing tight, "You know you're perfectly welcome to..."  
  
The flipped ends of Eiji's hair bounced a little as he shook his head, still not looking back, "It's fine, Oishi, really."  
  
Oishi's hand fell back a little, then dropped to his side. "Ah, well...see you tomorrow then."  
  
The famous Golden Pair ambled through the front gate of Seigaku High School, then turned and walked down the sidewalk in opposite directions.  
  
Japanese Notes:

1) "Thank you" (English)

2) "You're welcome" (English)  
(I try to avoid fangirl Japanese, but in this instance I couldn't figure  
out another way to portray the heavily accented English words.)  
  
Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

By Katty  
  
Even though the term had started out in late summer it felt like no time before the season had barreled on into autumn and the tennis practices that had seemed difficult at first were now on the verge of killing everyone. Oishi had been sure that the practices in Junior High had been the most impossible ever, and that no one could be a harder taskmaster than Tezuka when his eyes where set on a goal. But, while Ryuzaki-sensei had a decidedly hands-off approach to instructing her team, Kochi-Yagi had studied in America for many years, and was, most likely as a direct result, far more...militant. [1]  
  
Over the pounding of his feet heart, Oishi could just barely hear the thunderous bark of orders. "One more lap, then target serving!" Oishi could swear he recognized outright glee in the coach's voice even through the wheezing breath of the entire team. "And if the team doesn't make enough serves we go for forty laps, then serving again, then fifty laps.... Is that whining I hear? Just remember, it's up to you guys when we go home!"  
  
With a bit of effort Oishi turned his head to the side, eager to make encouraging comments, but nobody was there. Oishi blinked the sweat from his eyes just to be sure he wasn't seeing things, or rather wasn't not seeing things. Still, not a trace of that familiar damp, yet bouncy hair. Oishi turned to face back forward, eyes scanning until they settled on a shock of red several paces ahead of him as the team slowed to a stop, laps finally done. The team formed a sort of vague line with the bold and barely panting regulars heading straight to front, determined to start the percentage high even if the ratio of successes fell steadily as more of the team had an opportunity to serve.  
  
Oishi didn't even notice when his serve hit the target cone.  
  
There was a chaotic sort of crowded shuffle in the locker room after practice. It was loud, as per usual, but laden with a deep lethargy that only a truly strenuous practice can inspire. Oishi watched the world go by at half-speed as he tugged his shoes into place, grabbed his bag, then searched the low benches. Eiji was wedged between Sasuga-sempai, a third year regular, and a second year who's name Oishi didn't know, intently studying the gray cement floor, practice clothes still very much in place.  
  
Oishi blinked in surprise at his teammate. While Eiji usually lagged behind when it came to getting cleaned up after practice by jumping into conversations or getting distracted by a spot on his shoe, he was never this slow. Oishi had felt that he was just barely crawling along himself, but Eiji's odd lethargy stopped him dead in his tracks.  
  
"Eiji?" The redhead jumped like he'd just been caught clawing the furniture, bumping into the second year next to him, who swung his bag rather violently and left with the rest of his group.  
  
"Jeez! Watch it will ya?" he yelled back over his shoulder.  
  
Eiji looked distantly in the direction his sempai stomped off in for a long moment, before he called after with a belated "sorry" the vague expression on his face indicating that he wasn't entirely sure what he was apologizing for.  
  
Oishi studied his partner; brows pulling together as he considered what he was seeing, then tried to think of something to say. He looked around the clubroom. It was starting to empty now, the remaining players congregating in chatty groups around the doors. Oishi took in a deep lungful of air.  
  
"Is something bothering you?"  
  
"Hm?" he looked up and noticed Oishi hovering, and smiled inside. "Mmm...not really. Just drained, you know." He paused a moment and looked intently out the door. "It's ju..."  
  
The words cut off abruptly at a muffled squeal from deep within Oishi's bag. A soft wordless exclamation of surprise escaped Eiji's hovering doubles partner, who immediately started digging through his duffel. Over the noise of the shuffling contents and the high-pitched electronic clang, Eiji thought he heard a brief "sorry, gotta take this," yet over the ringing in his ears he couldn't be entirely sure.  
  
Eiji could see Oishi calmly answering his phone and understand that the other boy was having a conversation with a person who was not there, but Eiji couldn't hear a thing. The entire exchanged seemed far away and underwater...in a bag, as the ringing continued to pierce his skull, and only the gentle smacking sound of Oishi's cell snapping shut brought Eiji's hearing back.  
  
Oishi looked down as he put his phone back in his bag, then sighed loudly as he looked back at his doubles partner. "You were saying..?" Only the part of Eiji's hair was visible, weirdly pale against the blood red strands. Oishi felt himself frown "Eiji? What's wrong?"  
  
His bent head shook back and forth ever so slightly. "Mnn," he intoned vaguely, "'s nothin'. Just tired, 'hats all."  
  
Eiji's voice seemed small in the cement lined room and not at all like words, just sounds that didn't mean what they were saying.  
  
Oishi just set down his bag then immediately started to reorganize it, eyes absorbed in the task before him. "Hmm, I see." The sound of the zipper made Eiji jump. Oishi picked up his ridiculously heavy bag with a little groan then turned to face his double's partner his smile pleasant. "Then just take it easy tomorrow, Eiji." He turned to head toward the door, but the faintly desperate call of "Oishi?" made him stop and turn.  
  
"Yes, Eiji?"  
  
The boy did not look up, "How long have you had a cell phone?"  
  
Oishi started at the question, eyes lifting slightly upwards as he considered, "Hmm... A few weeks I guess, maybe almost a month." Oishi tilted his head as he considered the slumped redhead. "I thought you knew about it."  
  
A little shake of Eiji's head was the only response.  
  
Oishi could only reply with a tense little "oh."  
  
Oishi turned and headed out the door, turning back before he exited, "I've got to get going now." A long beat of nothing that set Oishi's teeth on edge consumed the locker room. He blindly grabbed the knob, "See you later then, okay?" and shut the club room door.  
  
As he made his way slowly but purposefully out of the club room, Oishi tried very hard to occupy his mind with nothing in particular, allowing his feet to take him to the front gate of the school by muscle memory alone. A small stone went tumbling in front of his feet and into the grass. As he watched it, his eyes caught on a figure walking out off in the distance by the small side gate that most students never used. He jumped with recognition and started to jog, hand waving.  
  
"Taka-san!" The former teammate jumped and turned, but then waved at Oishi, smile pleasant on his face.  
  
Oishi jogged to a halt, breath coming a little heavier, as he rested his hands on his knees for a moment. Taka smiled, "Looks like you just had a tough practice."  
  
Oishi looked up and gave a kind of half smile, "Well, I've had worse." He straightened himself out as his breathing evened, "It's been a while hasn't it?" The tone was kind, if a little distant. It really had been a while since he'd talked with Taka.  
  
"You're right, it has. We just don't see each other very often." Taka looked down as his hand came up the rub at the back of his head. "I don't really see much of the old team at all, except for Kikumaru-kun and Fuji."  
  
Oishi smiled warmly. "Well it's only natural that you see those two. You do see then in class everyday, and I know you've been busy, so..." Oishi paused for a bare instance mid-sentence. "Don't you have sushi classes right after school?"  
  
Taka blinked, thrown by the quick shift in thought. "Mmm...yes, but..." he took a minute to gather his thoughts, "I didn't have class tonight and I have a report due on Monday, so I spent some time in the library preparing." He looked up at Oishi before visibly steeling himself and pressing onward. "More importantly," Taka winced a bit as the words came out too loudly then continued in a softer tone, "how are you doing?"  
  
Green eyes blinked twice and confusion painted little lines between Oishi's brows, "I've been doing just fine." He smiled tensely, "Nothing really happening to tell you the truth." He glanced down at his watch, conveniently interrupting himself, "Oh, look at the time." Oishi looked up with his painted smile, "I've got to be going now." He took a step back starting to turn, "Let's get together sometime, when I can stay and talk longer." He waved over his shoulder as he turned back toward the gate.  
  
Taka reached out a hand to get his attention for just one more moment, but Oishi had already frozen mid-step. Taka looked at Oishi confused for an instant, before he followed the other boy's gaze and saw Eiji making his way towards the front gate.  
  
Oishi snapped himself together as he watched the no doubt exhausted Eiji jogging across campus, allowing his feelings of frustration at his partner grow. He raised a hand and started to shout, "Ei.." before something grabbed his attention.  
  
The first detail that Oishi noticed was the pleated blue hemline swinging in the gentle breeze, the second was the neon pink backpack, followed closely by the cropped blond hair and knee-high socks. It was only after she had waved and jogged over to meet Eiji halfway and the red-haired tennis player offered to carry her bag which she handed over while simultaneously taking his as they walked out the front gate, that Oishi was able to consolidate all the details into any sort of observation.  
  
Eiji was talking with a girl...and laughing with her...and walking with her.  
  
Oishi suddenly felt as if his stomach was lying on the ground.  
  
"Taka-san." He didn't move an inch as he asked, didn't even blink. "Who was that just now?"  
  
"Eh?" Taka blinked in surprise then looked at the ground, "Ashiwara Kimiko- san, third-year, girl's volleyball team captain," he paused, waiting for some sort of recognition on Oishi's part, "you know, Eiji's girlfriend." He looked at the back of Oishi's head. "I thought you knew about it."  
  
A little shake of his head was the only response Oishi could manage.  
  
And Taka could only reply with a tense little "oh."  
  
Japanese notes: "Coach" (English)  
(Note: Again with the bad English. Here I just wanted to make clear the  
fact that Yagi was making his players call him 'coach.'

Please R&R


	3. Chapter 3

As he opened the door to the fast-food burger place, Oishi was met with a wave of busy voices that threatened to knock him off his feet and back onto the similarly busy sidewalk. Everywhere he turned there was action, so much that he nearly missed the frantic waving from the furthest corner table. Oishi smiled and waved back, then began to carefully weave his way through the crowd.

There was a compacted human pile-up right around the tills and Oishi blushed as he squeezed past a very pretty college-age girl, unable to avoid a lot of rather embarrassing body contact, which she either didn't mind or notice. Oishi did, however, manage to reach the place where Taka was seated with a minimal amount of pushing. He thought briefly that maybe it was a little odd to be meeting like this. He hadn't seen Taka for weeks, then suddenly meeting up twice in the course of two days; but then, this was a scheduled meeting, a direct result of... Oishi stopped thinking suddenly and studied his seated friend. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

Taka smiled and shook his head, "No, I just managed to get a spot." He gestured to the cup at the spot across from him as he pulled his own closer to him, "I got you a cola...I didn't know if you'd want anything else."

Oishi sat down slowly, like he was testing bath water with a single outstretched toe, "No, that's just fine, thank you," he replied skittishly. They looked at each other for a moment before Oishi took a sip of his soda and shifted his gaze away. He realized belated that this was probably going to be very difficult. Neither was the talkative type, where personal matters were concerned, and generally relied on one or more of their more gregarious friends to supply conversation.

The pause began to multiply itself, growing steadily more uncomfortable, then, "You really don't mind meeting with me on you day off?"

Oishi looked up, straw still in his mouth, and gave a questioning "Eh?" before he took a moment to replay what Taka had said. He smiled a little. "No, not at all. I know you've been very busy lately."

Taka chuckled nervously, "But I still feel kinda bad having you meet me on my break."

"Even though I'm the one who insisted we meet today?" Oishi strained against his falling smile.

Taka let the conversation rest for a moment then changed the subject, "I see you're still near the top of the class. What was it last test? Fifth?"

Oishi looked away and let his head sink back into his shoulders, "Something like that," he muttered. He had been third actually, a fact which hadn't even registered with him as he glanced at the class ranking sheet on the way to practice; and in fact, it was only now that someone had mentioned it to him that he even formed any sort of realization of his own success.

His jump in grades hadn't really surprised him, but then, not a lot in recent weeks had; time had become disjointed and his classes consumed him. He would start out for school then realize three steps later he was there, or begin studying after dinner then glance at the digital clock on his desk and notice that he needed to be awake and heading to school in three and a half hours. Only tennis practice seemed to drag on through the space of small eternities, each day more painful than the one before, and that certainly didn't surprise him.

But that had all changed today.

Oishi had been surprised when he was able to catch the subway; surprised when he found the agreed upon spot at the agreed upon time; he'd even been surprised he managed to pull himself out of bed this morning. Oishi's expression turned from embarrassed to utterly blank in the space of moments, his glassy eyes obviously not seeing the tall paper cup he was rolling back and forth between his palms.

If Taka noticed the look on Oishi's face, a combination of confusion and a rare form of shellshock that he'd only ever see occur between doubles partners, he pretended not to notice. "Still, it's wonderful that your grades are so good." Just like he pretended not to notice yesterday. "That's what I'd expect from our old vice-captain." Just like he pretended not to notice lots of things.

A small, genuine smile played at the corners of Oishi's lips as he responded with a soft, "Thank you."

Then Oishi eyes blinked open and watched as the generally mild tempered boy began to twist roughly at his napkin until it started to tear, while worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Taka took a deep breath then looked directly at the boy opposite him, then jumped as Oishi said his name, voice rising in question. Taka put aside the napkin then took a deep breath of preparation before looking up and pushing forward. "Oishi, I know you don't really want to talk to me here; I mean, I'm probably not the one you should be talking to about this." He looked back at his soda, "I think...well, Fuji would be a much better person, because...well, you know..."

Oishi blinked. "Taka-san?" he prodded with his voice when it became clear the other boy had sincerely hoped to let the conversation end with that.

Taka looked back at Oishi in response, eyes gleaming and his voice louder then he had anticipated, "Well, you did just want to know more didn't you...about Kikumaru-kun and Kimiko-san."

Oishi looked away. "Taka-san, I..." he began apologetically, but Taka interrupted him with a brief wave of his hand.

"No, its fine Oishi...sorry," he gave the other a reassuring smile, "it's just that when you insisted that we get together as soon as possible right after you saw Kikumaru-kun with Kimiko-san it was pretty obvious what you wanted to talk about."

Oishi stared blankly for only a moment at Taka's smile before the blood visibly drained from his face. "I'm sorry for taking your time. I should go now." It came out in a torrent of words as Oishi tensed and attempted to leave. He managed to make it halfway to standing before Taka's hand shot out. His long fingers easily circled Oishi's wrist. "Wait," the interjection came out strongly, "Stay for a bit...please." His face softened as Oishi looked down at him, halfway standing and leaning precariously across the table. Once he felt some of the tension in that wrist leave and was sure Oishi wouldn't run, Taka dropped his wrist. "At least finish your soda." His smile was gentle and Oishi realized as he slowly sat back down that he'd always had a massive weakness for smiles.

"I'm sorry, I've been rude, Taka-san." He bowed his head toward the table.

"No, it's fine," he waved it off with both hands and a shy little smile, "I can understand why this sort of development would keep you pretty preoccupied."

Oishi said nothing, just sat back and studied the place where his straw intersected the lid with a vaguely polite smile on his face that felt like it was slipping off.

Taka took another breath and continued, eyes carefully monitoring the other's face, "But I understand why he wouldn't want to mention it to you."

Oishi's head lifted suddenly and he stared into Taka's face unable to keep his eyes from narrowing into a uncommonly emotional expression. "Why? I don't understand," his eyes flashed, "Explain it to me...please. Please explain it to me." Oishi sensed something inside himself slip and strange liquid that felt like begging bubble up within him

Taka blinked and pulled his head back at Oishi's expression unused to seeing face twisted like that, "Well," he ventured, voice tentative, "I guess it's because you'd be jealous."

Oishi's heart gave one hard thud that rang through his entire body then subsided into echoes that overlaid the rapid palpitations in his chest. "Jealous?" He strained to steady his voice hoping for nonchalance but he ended up sounding defensive anyway.

Taka's brows furrowed at the question. "I guess, well," he searched for an explanation to the obvious, confusion written on his face. "Eiji is dating a really popular and cute—no, more pretty really...and she's a third year and you guys are partners and, well...you, you know...don't have...a girlfriend..." Taka's voice trailed off as he hesitated over every word, growing steadily more embarrassed as he stated the truth.

Oishi's heart immediately ceased its half-time rhythm and he tried to let out the breath he'd been holding indiscreetly. He looked away, a bit of nervous pink shading his cheeks. "I wouldn't be like that," his voice was persuasive as he talked softly to himself.

The motion of Taka's hands being smacked against the table made Oishi jump as the other boy leaned forward. "I know!" he exclaimed, eyes round and mouth firm with conviction. "You'd be try to be happy for Kikumaru-kun, that you'd want to know that he found a girl he liked so well, I'm sure, but he just kept insisting that nobody say anything to you!"

Taka stoppered his words quickly but his mouth hung open just a little, like he was hoping that they would take the hint and fly back into his mouth.

For an intensely drawn out moment there was silence between the two boys, even the incessant buzz of the restaurant seemed to fade behind the blood roaring in Oishi's ears.

After a good long while, the noise of the other customers returned in full force; Taka started to stammer explanations, but Oishi's own words cut his off sharply.

"So Eiji didn't want me to know, huh?" He could barely make out the sound of his own voice over the high pitched tittering of three school girls behind him. His eyes didn't leave the table top.

Taka made a vague noise low in his throat that could have been interpreted as some sign of assent, but before he could muster a defense of his red-headed friend Oishi interrupted him a second time.

"Don't you think it's a little...strange?" Oishi questioned, his voice painfully strained but tentative at the same time, a toxic mixture of emotion and uncertainty laced in-between the syllables. When it became clear that Taka couldn't think of a way to respond Oishi nearly swallowed the remaining words right then. His heart beat so hard he felt as though he were going to shake apart into a thousand pieces at the very thought of this betrayal. His head swam with the need lash out and hurt in a way that he couldn't believe of himself. "I mean," he continued, his voice shaking, "don't you think it's strange? Eiji going out with a girl of all things."

He glanced up searching Taka's face for an encouraging reaction and saw only confusion etched there. He swallowed, "I mean, doesn't it strike you as strange, because..." the words stuck in Oishi's throat, nerves bleeding away his anger, "Eiji is...well, you know..."

Taka watched as Oishi let his head fall forward and his words trailed off into nothing. He sighed as he racked his brain for a response then nodded slightly in agreement with himself before he gathered the courage to reply. "I know you think that Eiji's a little immature to be dating," he gently tapped the lid of his soda, "I had my doubts right after they started dating too, but..." he trailed off considering his next words carefully, "Eiji's really been...different lately."

Oishi searched himself and found he had nothing to respond with to such a simple truth.

"And I guess," Taka continued on, attempting to fill Oishi's desperate need for information, "if they've been going out for nearly a month now you have to admit that something about them works."

Oishi's straw bent in half. Taka pretended not to notice and took a long gulp of his soda; hoping to moisten his vocal cords before they pulled so tight they'd snap under the strain of the words he needed to say. His breath was deep and it rasped wetly in his throat.

"Kimiko-san asked Eiji go for a Sunday walk in the park with her nearly a month ago. After about a week it became pretty clear they were officially an item. Kimiko-san doesn't have a lot of time, well, more than most third-years because she's not planning on attending any sort of college, I think..." He paused for a moment, considering where he needed to go next, "From what I understand of the rumors it's all been pretty innocent. They were spotted holding hands by the lake in the park earlier this week but that's about it." He sighed and thought about what Oishi wanted to hear and then he considered the truth, "It's just his first girlfriend."

Taka looked at the top of Oishi's head and frowned, then set his hand down on the table a little more firmly then intended. They both jumped a little at the sound Taka shocked by his own audacity and Oishi just surprised by the noise. Taka, confident that he now had the other boy undivided attention, looked aside and cleared his throat, the blush on his cheeks faint but there. His eyes grew gentle as he turned them back to Oishi's face and he leaned across the Formica tabletop as his voice grew soft and warm.

"No matter how much he seems to like her, she's just his first girlfriend," he repeated gently, "chances are it's not really going to last all that much longer, because...well that's just how these things usually go." He took another sip of soda then continued, "But once she's gone there'll probably be another one set to take her place," a hint of conspiracy crept into Taka's smile, "or maybe you'll be the next one to get a girl." Oishi's eyes widened, but Taka only grinned back before his face turned serious again. "You two will always be the Golden Pair, but you can't cling to tennis forever." Warm brown eyes fixed intently on shocked green, "You understand, right?"

The stiff bottom edge of Oishi's paper cup tapped twice against the table as he looked down, visibly gathering his thoughts. "I suppose you're right," he conceded vaguely. He took a deep breath then forcibly pulled a smile across his face, "It's not like I can marry Eiji."

Taka's breath caught at the painful joke and his face fell as he took in the agonized look on Oishi face. Taka spared a moment to wonder if Oishi realized the pain around his eyes combined with the strained smile created an expression that was bordering on hysterical.

"Oishi, I..." But the words found no path to take, lost in the woods of uncertainty Taka let out a sigh, "I have to get going." He put his straw to his lips and slurped up the remainder of his soda. He stood and tossed the cup in the nearby garbage then turned back to face the slight confused tennis player.

Oishi wondered as he watched the paper cup disappear into the trash when Taka had managed to finish his drink. His own sat before him, barely touched and very nearly forgotten about. With a little start he noticed Taka making for the exit and started to stand to join him, only to be stopped by an insistent voice.

"No, it's alright, Oishi. You should sit here and finish your cola." He paused for a long moment, his expression the very best version of helpful he could muster, then continued, "You need take a moment to think." He smiled down at Oishi's tense form. "We should do this some other time," he suggested softly, "when I can stay for a bit." He started to walk away then turn and called back over his shoulder, "See you later."

As the voice of his friend faded from his ears Oishi was left surrounded by the noise of the customers all around. He waited at the empty table for slow count of ten then stood cautiously and tossed soda cup into the trash. The wet thunk of it hitting the back resounded loudly in his head as he walked through the double glass doors and out onto the sidewalk.

Oishi was immediately and willingly swept along with the crowd as he glanced down at his watch, confirming that it was indeed a bad time to try getting anywhere, but the mass of people he was caught up in seemed to be rolling along at a decent clip to the nearest station. Caught up in the swiftly flowing current of foot traffic and not needing to pay attention to where his feet were taking him, Oishi allowed himself to consider exactly where it was he was going.

There were so many things that needed his concentration right now, not the least of which was his studies in preparation of entrance exams. He faltered a bit in his stride, right toe catching slightly on the pavement, as he realized just how soon he'd need to start considering such things. He looked up at a tall building in the distance as if seeing it for the first time and smiled. Oishi felt himself mature right there, with each step he left something of his childhood behind. Now was not the time to be clinging to stuffed bears and ice cream cones, he assured himself, forward motion was necessary to grow into a young man who could contribute to his community and family.

He counted his steps as he descended the stairs down into the subway and realized as he reached the bottom that the odd pain in the pit of his stomach must be hunger. Oishi peeled himself off from the crowd and his forward motion stopped dead once he'd pulled himself from the flow. He felt the odd urge to brush the dirt that wasn't there from his clothes, but resisted as he walked over to a nearby vending machine and pulled a few coins from his pocket, realizing that once away from the main path of traffic the station was surprisingly empty.

He stopped in front of a machine that looked fairly promising, rolling his money between his fingers as he considered the brightly colored packages. One slick gold 100 yen piece slipped against another and went bouncing across the cement floor with a gentle ringing clang.

A soft exclamation left Oishi's mouth as he reached out his hand towards the deserting coin as if he expected it to come back to him of its own device. His feet kicked in after a moment and he chased after it, bending deeply at the waist, fingers outstretched. The coin stopped before he could reach it, rolling in successively tighter circles until it flipped on its side and wobbled for a moment before coming to rest right in front of a strange sort of alcove that might have at one time had some purpose but was now simply another darkened corner in a downtown subway.

As he reached down to grab the coin a flash of flesh tone moved deep in the shadows off to his right. Every highly trained muscle in Oishi's body tensed with nearly enough force to pop his joints as he braced for flight, before he realized that no immediate threat existed here.

The instantaneous adrenaline shot was replaced by shock of a much more indignant sort as he realized that there were two high school students making out in the subway with an audacity that made the first-year student want to stamp his foot. He had been bare instants away from opening his mouth to say something when the hinges of his jaw suddenly became unstuck.

He recognized that pink backpack.

He recognized that bright red hair.

Nothing on earth could have stopped Oishi from leaping away quickly folding himself back into the crowd at the base of the stairs getting pulled by the fluid human mass inexorably toward the subway. His subway pass trembled but managed to slide it into the slot anyway. Oishi caught it on the second grab as it popped out the other side.

He grasped a support far overhead and stared intently at the hair line of the neck of the twenty-something business man in front of him. The car gave an unexpected jerk about halfway to his stop as Oishi realized that he'd just lost 100 yen.

Oishi was against the rather tall man by the insistent press of human bodies as the subway lurched to a shaky halt. The first-year, along with a dozen or so others, pushed forcibly through to the doors, while the rest simply shifted aside to make room for the oncoming passengers. Forced out through the door and onto the mostly empty platform; Oishi suddenly felt very alone as he let his feet walk him the few blocks to his house.

He must have responded to his mother as she called to him from the kitchen, because she informed him of the state of the evening meal as he plodded up the stairs to his room.

Darkened green eyes rested briefly on his racket bag where it leaned up against his closet door, then on his desk strewn with books before he stepped forward and fall face first into his bed, arms reaching out to clutch the soft white pillow to his face. He took a deep calming breath and realized that his mother must have done laundry as he dug his face deep into the clean softness. Oishi felt the fabric around his mouth grow warm with his breath and he closed his eyes against the light that streamed through his window.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Monday and it showed: perfectly evident in every unenthusiastic greeting, every listless plod, and every pair of stooped shoulders. The memories of the previous, blissfully school free day were slipping quickly away from most students, while some only wished to forget by concentrating on the now of the day with an unwavering intensity and a staunch determination to simply not think about it at all.

Oishi was one of the first players to make it into the club room. He changed quickly then bolted out onto the courts, not pausing to greet or chat with any of his teammates. After several minutes of fairly intense stretching, he'd always found his flexibility somewhat lacking, the remainder of the team had congregated and the vice-captain began to lead them in still more stretches and some warm-ups. Oishi threw himself headlong into the warm-up exercises until his heart pounded and his muscles began to feel the spreading heat. He found that he could make the rest of the world simply disappear if he focused on the throbbing in his chest and the burn of his muscles.

He worked on a line drill, hopping side to side rapidly across the baseline, his eyes down at his feet. A stern "eyes up!" reminder from the coach forced Oishi to look back up at his doubles partner bouncing effortlessly across the sideline. A bead of sweat already forming under the strenuous warm-up trickled into his eye. Oishi winced at the sting that made his eyes water so much that the moisture threatened to roll down his face. He looked down for the last minute of the drill not caring if the coach was glaring at him or not. A sharp whistle blow broke through the pounding in he ears. Oishi paced around a little, shaking out his legs, enjoying the tiny desperate twitches of his muscles.

Kochi-Yagi pulled his mouth from the whistle slowly, as if reluctant to give it up, then began to bark his orders. "Play the practice matches as listed on the board in, that order, no compromises." He gestured militantly, "Singles play on those courts, doubles over here." He hardly waited a second before screaming back at the team, "Don't walk! Run!" Oishi silently lamented the coach's foul mood before he jolted his legs into motion, grabbing his racket and jogging over to the court where his partner was already waiting.

Kochi-Yagi had never stood much on formalities so the time that Oishi had spent chasing tennis balls during High School was nil. Oishi and Eiji, as well as Fuji, had been easily incorporated into the practice schedule and if anyone was the least bit surprised at the status at the formerly nationally ranked Junior High players no one said a thing. Oishi, usually mindful of those around him, wondered at that occasionally but was none the less proud of the compliment to the skills he and Eiji had worked so hard to build together.

But as their game against the D2 regulars progressed, pride quickly became the furthest thing from Oishi's mind.

He couldn't look at Eiji. So he didn't, and their game showed it. They hadn't performed this poorly since they had first stepped onto a court together. Oishi was reminded unpleasantly, as they lost yet another volley for being out of position, of Momoshiro and Echizen's makeshift doubles. Oishi sighed, and with they way Eiji was playing he was surprised he hadn't gotten a serve in the head.

They lost the match six-love, with a couple of love games mixed in. It was all around a general disaster. The whispers from off the courts made Oishi's ears burn and the tenderly consoling utterances of 'good game' from their opponents made Oishi want to crawl under a rock.

He was only peripherally aware that Eiji was following him off the court as he felt his feet dragging him towards the sideline.

"Oishi! Look lively!" the coach called.

"Yes, sir," was Oishi's instinctual response and he jogged briskly over to the side of the court until he and his partner gradually slowed to a stop directly in front of the coach.

Kochi-Yagi scratched his square chin and tilted his head as he squinted his right eye closed and considered the boys standing before him with the other, as though they would somehow make more sense that way.

Their coach drew in a deep breath and Oishi winced as he braced himself. "Kikumaru," the voice came out softer then expected and Oishi breathed out a sigh of relief, "go over to court C and play Sasuga when the other game finishes," Kochi-Yagi made a vague sweeping motion with his free hand as he continued to intently study the clipboard in his other as though he was unaware of the terrible significance of what he had just done.

Oishi's breath caught tightly in his chest at the seemingly casual pronouncement from their coach. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder, seeking out that same gaze that he had avoided so carefully since that...incident yesterday, but Eiji had already turned around and was walking towards court C, and Oishi found that what he wanted more than anything in the world was to follow him.

"Oishi...you stay here for a moment until I figure out who I want you and Achigawa to play, alright?" Oishi found that he barely had the energy to give a brief affirmative nod and couldn't find the power to protest this separation. He could only look on as Eiji took the court against the regular Sasuga-sempai without his partner by his side.

Oishi felt the time slipping away from him again as he stared at his partner, watching the intricate solo dance and the style that he had grown into so beautifully. Quicker, yes, and more stamina of course then when he had first seen him play over three years ago, but those recently grownup, slimly muscled limbs more than anything were what kept Eiji continually in position and able return nearly everything that Sasuga-sempai could hit at him.

It was only as the match was coming to an end, surprising close for anyone who hadn't known Eiji and his skill and tenacity, that Oishi realized that he had been defeated. Eiji had defeated him a long time ago; it had taken Oishi this long to figure out that he wasn't needed anymore.

Oishi didn't register their coach's voice until after Achigawa, a pleasantly mannered second year, put a hand on Oishi's shoulder.

"It's our turn to play," he said softly as he smiled giving Oishi a gentle push towards the court before jogging into position facing off against a second year doubles pair.

The game progressed just fine, well one might even say. Achigawa was a strong player, confident; good enough for Oishi to realize, as the other boy leaned forward on his toes, calves tensing as he prepared to receive the serve, that he didn't want to play with this person who was not his partner.

He couldn't put a name to exactly the shift in atmosphere around the court, but Oishi was still painfully aware of the exact moment that Eiji finished his game, the moment those deep blue eyes fixed on him, watching Oishi's legs tremble with a weakness that wasn't in his muscles.

The trembling didn't stop even after the game had ended, Oishi's Moon Volley proving terribly effective against the less experienced players. Oishi turned and was unable to stop himself from scanning the sidelines in a perverse sort of masochism, but he wasn't there.

Even though his match was won, Oishi felt, more clearly then ever before that he had truly lost.

The strap of his overly full bag was digging into Oishi's neck as he walked out of the clubroom door, setting new records for changing time as threw his school uniform back on and his practice wear into his bag. Heading quickly towards the school gate, Oishi had just managed to get into a good rhythmic stride when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps unmistakably trying to catch up with him.

For one long heart-stopping moment Oishi seriously considered just keeping his eyes forward as he walked away. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do to turn around and fix his troubled green gaze on the person behind him.

Only it wasn't him.

It was...her.

She paid no mind as Oishi tried to pick his chin up off his chest, just smiled at him instead. "Hello, Oishi-kun," she began in a gentle but attention-commanding voice, "It's certainly nice to meet you." She boldly met his gaze as Oishi stared at her, trying to make sense of her presence. Trying to fathom why she was here, looking so...

She has really beautiful eyes.

For a long moment as Oishi gathered his wits Kimiko simply looked at him, face showing a pleasantly neutral expression. "G-good day, Ashiwara-sempai," he finally managed to stammer, falling carefully back into the role of stuttering first-year with ease all the while searching his jumbled thoughts for an escape route.

The corners of her lips tugged up helplessly at Oishi's words as she slowly lost the desperate battle to suppress her amusement at his consternation. "It's okay," she chided gently as she slipped a piece of her short blonde hair that hadn't seemed out of place back behind her ear. "I'm not going to eat you," she continued, smiling as Oishi blushed bright red at her works, "I just want to talk to you."

It was silent, between them, or at least seemed to be at first for Oishi. As the seconds ticked away he became aware of the noise of the boys leaving the clubroom behind him in twos or threes and the faint noise of the wind in the fall leaves. Kimiko sighed as her entire face tensed.

"Could you just come with me for a bit Oishi-kun?" her eyes curved pleasantly upwards as she smiled and Oishi was torn as to weather or not they did so to hide her true expression.

Oishi took a nearly subconscious step backwards. "I...I'd like to, but..." he trailed off for a moment as he racked his brain for an excuse, but the retaliatory statement came before he even had a chance to breath.

"Ah? It'll only take a moment," her eyes began to plead silently even as her voice stayed deep and steady, "then you can be on your way."

Oishi felt his brow pinch together, not knowing where this cross feeling was coming from exactly, but not particularly caring to examine it at the moment. "I really don't think that I should...ah!" further words were halted as Oishi felt a strong circle of fingers clamp tightly around his wrist. "Hey...wait!" he cried out in futility as he felt himself pulled forward by an insistent tug on his arm.

"Just come with me for a moment," her voice stayed pleasant even as she dragged Oishi behind one of the equipment storages sheds, letting go and backing away only after she'd managed to pull Oishi out of sight of the main path.

Oishi, for all his maturity and level headedness, was seething. A thousand shouts and insults and protests all leapt to the tip of his tongue but he bit back all of them until the accusation, "Are you always this familiar with people you've just met?" simply spilled out of his mouth.

She leaned back against the building, lips pulled together in a little pout of concentration as she took a moment to really consider the question. She hummed softly to herself as she thought then replied, "No, not usually," her tone as dismissive as her words. Her eyes leveled with Oishi's. "I've just heard so much about you that I feel as if I know you somewhat."

Oishi grinned fakely, "Ah, really. I guess I can't say the same," he retaliated, words strained.

She sighed heavily and crossed her arms in front of her; "I can't say I'm that surprised, I guess..." she trailed off, leaving the vague accusation hanging in the air around Oishi's ears making them ring with long suppressed emotion.

The long moment of silence didn't seem to bother Kimiko; at least not in the same way it bothered Oishi, forcing him to reinitiate the conversation. "There was something you wanted to talk to me about?" The words were drug out slowly but softly as if each was terribly heavy.

She grinned back brightly at him. "Glad you asked," she replied quickly, and Oishi couldn't help but notice that the sort of tired sarcasm that she had been giving him before had completely melted away. Oishi balked, it took just this one small kindness? A little consideration and Achigawa Kimiko-san was pacified, no thrilled, and gratitude shone like light from her.

She had such a pretty smile.

Oishi shook his head a bit, hoping desperately that she wouldn't notice as he tried to physically fling the thoughts from his head. They felt too much like infidelity. And if Kimiko noticed she said nothing about Oishi's expression of consternation. She simply proceed to speak.

"I..." she began tentatively broke off with a tiny bubble of laughter, "now that I have your attention I'm not sure what to say." Her admission flowed easily and her smile stayed, laughing inside at her own lack of maturity and composure. "It's just..." she started again then sighed, "I had so much that I wanted...needed to say to you, but I don't think that you're really a bad guy."

The color disappeared from Oishi's face and his stomach lurched dangerously upwards leaving a strange and empty feeling void inside. But even as he body felt frozen in a sort of painful suspension his mind whirled. If she has that idea about me, that I'm no good, gruff, unkind, what has Eiji been saying to her? He felt his heart nearly stop, what does Eiji think of me now?

Kimiko nearly laughed aloud at the look of absolute worry and bit her lip to hold back the smile. Oishi's face was like a book she had already read many times; and that more than anything, as she took a deep breath to continue, convinced her that she was doing the right thing.

"No it's alright Oishi-kun," she continued her voice gentle but full of something that sounded suspiciously like regret, "Eiji-kun never says anything bad about you, he only says good things about you, it's just..." Her voice had risen to a strained pitch before she quickly broke off looking away for a moment as she concentrated on her breathing. She looked back at Oishi and persisted, her voice painfully steady, "Can't you see how much you're hurting him?"

She let the question linger for a long tense moment, not expecting a response, but leaving a small gap for one anyway. She met Oishi's eyes with a steady hazel-brown stare studying him with an intensity she normal reserved for important games, then spoke again, her voice softer this time. "And now I can see that you're hurting each other."

She waited for a long moment, holding Oishi's gaze as she studied the emotions that flickered and gleamed behind his eyes, waiting for some sort of verbal response, a hum, a nod, something.

Nothing.

She sighed and began again, "Eiji-kun and I..." the vaguest hint of uncertainty passed through her eyes as she stopped for a bare moment searching for the right words, then, "our relationship, it's going nowhere fast, and pretty soon Eiji is going to have to admit that." She tried to swallow the tightness in her throat discretely. "I want you to be there for him when that happens."

She visibly steeled herself and took five determined steps forward, bringing her toe to toe with Oishi, who grappled with the desire to simply run but determined to hold his ground against the approaching figure.

Kimiko studied Oishi face for a long moment, studying each detail of his uncertainly and fear. She would have laughed had the moment not been so serious. "I don't care what happened between you," her voice was quiet but bubbling with the intensity of a pot on the stove. She ignored the blush the spread across Oishi's face and continued, "And I really don't want to know," she shook her head emphatically, "but you _need_ to be together." She paused, searching for a moment, then, "Eiji needs you."

Oishi stood, frozen in place by her intensity so much that he hardly twitched when she grabbed both his shoulders pulling his face close to hers. He realized, belated, as her eyes bore into his that she was nearly as tall a he was. Something in the back of his mind reasoned distractedly that she was probably quite used to using her height to intimidate people, but all stray thoughts were squeezed from his mind as she continued.

"I don't want you to think of this as an order from a sempai," her voice developed a soft, almost conspirational tone and Oishi could feel her breath on his cheek, "I don't even want you to think of this as an order. It's a..." she searched for the word a moment, "plea, from a friend of a friend." She sighed and pulled back slightly, but didn't release Oishi's shoulders. "I'm worried about him," she continued, "I'm worried about my bo-...my friend." Her eyes quivered for just a moment and Oishi felt his breath catch. "I'm worried about my friend," she repeated softly.

She pulled her hands away and turned from him suddenly, surprising the tennis player, and cleared her throat before she continued in a forced tone, "I've got to be going now," she turned back on her heals sharply, "I've taken enough of you time." She gave a quick little bow that seemed out of place and turned away stepping out from behind the building and calling out to some friends somewhere up ahead on the path so quickly it left Oishi's head spinning and his thoughts a tangled mess.

He sighed and turned around, preparing to walk the other way; only to have the blood in his veins turn to ice at sight of the figure standing not more than seven feet from him.

"Oishi...we need to talk."

Japanese:

-san: Title of respect

-sempai: Title of respect reserved for those older then you in school or business

-kun: Title implying familiarity, used for those younger then you


	5. Interlude

Warning: Minor het lime warning here, and a much needed explanation to the relationship between Eiji and Kimiko.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Please excuse me."

"No, it's fine, really. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"But I was the one who shoulda been paying more attention."

"Alright, let's just say we're both at fault and call it good, okay?"

"...okay... Well if you'd ex..."

"Ah! I thought I recognized you. You're Kikumaru Eiji of The Golden Pair!"

"Eeeh? I didn't know I was famous!"

"Well, I've always been pretty interested in tennis, and I sometimes watch your practices after I get done with mine, so..."

"Ah. What sport do you play?"

"Volleyball."

"Mmm...I see."

"..."

"..."

"So how's school been treating you? Like high school?"

"Eh, its fine I guess. Lot a work to do."

"Yeah, there is. Aaah, I can't wait for tomorrow. Do you have any big plans?"

"Eh...not really. How about you?"

"Just sort of going out in the park near the school, it's pretty nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Oh, gotta go. Talk to you later, alright?"

"M'kay."

"See ya 'round."

"Bye."

"Ah, Kikumaru-kun. Good morning." 1

"Good Morning."

"How was your day off?

"Okay, I guess. Didn't do much of anything...just went running...How 'bout you?"

"It was good. The weather was nice, so it was just kinda fun to go walk down by the lake."

"Eeh? They have a lake, there?"

"Oh, it's just a little fake pond, really, but I guess most people call it the lake. Don't know why the name just sort of stuck."

"Ah, sounds fun."

"I'm planning on going there again on Sunday, at least for a little while..."

"...really?"

"Yeah...you could, you know, come too...we could maybe hang out, or something."

"Sure! Sounds like fun. We could go do some window shopping, or, you know, go down to that lake, or whatever."

"Well...great! Great. I'll...meet you at the front gate at, say, two o'clock?"

"Sounds good, see ya then."

"Bye."

"I had fun today, Eiji-kun."

"Yeah, so did I there are a lot of neat little places to shop there."

"..."

"..."

"Thanks for walking me home."

"It's no problem, I actually live kinda nearby and it did get a little late."

"...well thank you just the same. ...and here's my house."

"This one? Wow, it's big...nice."

"Thank you. I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"

"Wait, Kimiko-san." 2

"Yes."

"Today...it was a...date, wasn't it?"

"...it can be. If you want it to be."

"..."

"..."

"I..."

"Just think about it, okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Eiji-kun."

"Sure, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"Did you want to go on a date tonight?"

"I...sure, I'd love too."

"That was a great movie."

"I don't know...I thought it was a little...slow."

"Of course you did. Boy's aren't supposed to like movies without explosions."

"Hey! I..."

"I'm kidding, kidding. But I guess I didn't figure you'd really like it."

"...really, why then...did you..."

"I guess...I just wanted to see if you'd go with me, anyway."

"...oh."

"..."

"..."

"...you seem uncomfortable with this Eiji-kun."

"...well I guess I..."

"It's dark out. No one can see you holding my hand."

"...I guess."

"Hey, let's go get some ice cream."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Eiji-kun, but don't really like ice cream."

"...oh."

"Ah, I know! Let's go get strawberry crepes over there instead."

"Eiji-kun, I don't think this is really working out."

"Why, what's wrong? Don't you like me?"

"No, I like you, Eiji-kun. I like you a lot, and that's the problem."

"...eh?"

"I like you a lot more than you will ever like me."

"That's not true Kimiko-san. I like you very much..."

"Now that's bull!"

"..."

"...sorry."

"No, that's fine."

"..."

"I wasn't lying, though. I really do like you."

"Then kiss me."

"What?"

"If you like me, then kiss me."

"I...okay."

"It's fine, Eiji-kun."

"But aren't..."

"Shh...it's fine. My parents aren't coming home tonight."

"Oh...alright then."

"Mmmm, Eiji-kun...you kiss so well."

"You do, too."

"You can touch me, if you want."

"What?"

"Here, touch my breasts."

"...okay."

"Do you like them?"

"...yeah."

"..."

"..."

"Do you want me, Eiji?" 3

"I...I guess."

"Eiji...please...don't be evasive with me. I need to know for sure. It's just a yes or no question. Do you want me?

"Then...yes. Yes, I want you."

"Then act like it."

"Mmmm, how do you like to be touched Eiji? Like that?"

"I...I think so. I guess, I don't really know. I've never..."

"..."

"..."

"This isn't really working, is it?"

"I'm sorry...I'm just too nervous, I guess."

"...yeah."

"We could, um...always make out some more. I like that."

"..."

"...Kimiko-chan?" 4

"...alright."

"You don't have to carry my bag."

"Why not? You're carrying mine."

"Yes, but I'm the guy I'm supposed to do things like this."

"Eiji, you do next to nothing like a typical guy."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"...I guess not."

"Then I'll take that as a complement."

"...you're one in a million, Eiji."

"Here, one chocolate crepe for you, one strawberry ice cream for me."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"..."

"Man, I love Sundays. I just wish they'd come more often."

"If they came more often they wouldn't be so much fun."

"Of course they would be. I'd get to spend that time with you."

"...you're sweet."

"Thanks."

"And you've got ice cream on your face."

"What, here?"

"No, there."

"Here?"

"No, silly, right here."

"Hey, don't laugh at me."

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you."

"Am I laughing?"

"Yes, you are."

"Fine then."

"..."

"..."

"We should go somewhere today."

"Where?"

"I don't know...weren't you saying something about getting a new pair of shoes?"

"Yeah, but...they're only at that one store that's a couple of stops down from here."

"We can still go do that. We've got time."

"All right then."

"You're so impulsive sometimes, Eiji. A subway station? What were you thinking?"

"Hey, be fair. I didn't hear you saying anything."

"True. Ah, close the door, please. I guess we did make it out of there undiscovered."

"And that's the important thing. Are your parents ever home?"

"Nope, we got the place all to ourselves."

"Well, in that case..."

"Mmmm..."

"Mm...I could kiss you all night."

"...Do you want to see my room?"

"Oh, god, Eiji!"

"..."

"Nnn, more."

"...like that?"

"Ah! Perfect. I'm gonna..."

"..."

"Aaa! Eiji!"

"..."

"...thank you. That was great."

"...you're welcome."

"..."

"..."

"So...what do you want now?"

"...no, I'm fine..."

"..."

"..."

"...you're not even...geez."

"...I'm sorry."

"No, I'm the one who should feel bad here, not you."

"...why?"

"Why? Why not! I just..."

"..."

"Eiji, look at me. No one can tell you what it is you want, understand? Sooner or later it's gonna catch up to you and the decisions are going to be no one's but your own."

"..."

"...and...I'll be there for you, Eiji, when that time comes, because I...I really like you."

"...I'm sorry."

"...so am I."

"...can I stay the night?"

"...anytime."

Japanese Notes:

1) -kun: title of familiarity, often associated with males  
2) -san: title of formality, used to indicate a level of politeness  
3) -blank: lack of honorific indicates a high level of familiarity and intimacy  
4) -chan: title of familiarity, general only used with females


	6. Chapter 5

MAJOR WARNING!

This chapter contains depictions of sexual violence.

Oishi was never sure of exactly where the sheer force of will that allowed him to meet Eiji's stare came from.

As he wrestled his gaze up from Eiji's black uniform shoes, Oishi felt something in his chest throbbing, but throbbing in a good way, an excited way. It was his courage, he realized, slowly reviving itself; something Oishi had thought curled up in his chest and died months ago, back when all their problems started, back on that night that they didn't talk about, that he couldn't bring himself to talk about.

Green eyes lingered for a moment of a volition that, for a change, was Oishi's own on slightly chapped pink lips. They were dry looking, but parted gently so that Oishi could see past them to that place where it was shadowy and mysterious.

"O-oishi?"

His eyes quickly shot up and met bright pools of troubled blue. Eiji's eyes were scanning back and fourth so quickly across the other boy's face, desperate to take in every nuance of expression, and Oishi thought for just one moment that they looked like cornflowers shaking in a stiff breeze. Finding nothing in Oishi's expression to cling to, Eiji let out a shuddering breath and wet his lips, feeling his skin grow tight under that green stare.

Oishi's mouth fell open as the words he had meant to say refused to exit his mouth, trapped behind his parted lips, breath frozen.

The long moment of quiet hung between them, a powerful presence, until Eiji, standing the weight of the silence no longer, turned his face away and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his treacherous thoughts out between his eyes, where his brows knitted together.

The air felt heavy as it rushed into Oishi's lungs as he prepared to break the oppressive stillness, until Eiji turned to face him and walked right up to him. Everything stopped. Eiji's stare was steady and icy, piercing into Oishi, daring him to look away.

Oishi couldn't breathe.

"What were you doing with my girlfriend?"

Oishi's chin bobbed up and down a few times as if he were trying to swallow something he simply could not get his mouth around, then managed to stammer out a nearly inaudible, "what?"

Eiji's eyes wouldn't let his go as he reiterated in broken down clipped sentence parts, "what. were you doing. with my girlfriend?"

Of all the possible ways Oishi had imagined this conversation starting, this was not one of them. Oishi felt helpless as something important that he couldn't name slipped away. He blinked at Eiji who looked like, well, a jealous boyfriend, and Oishi thought for one half manic moment that it would have been funny had it been anyone else.

Oishi's eyes narrowed as he considered Eiji for the space of moments before he spoke, "Talking," the word came out surprisingly cold in the warm autumn air. "Just talking," he continued, "but I don't think that's the point here…"

"No, that is the point. She's my girlfriend," the red-head spat, his face twisting upon itself in an expression that looked like anger, but was deeper and complex in a way that Oishi was afraid to acknowledge.

Because he was only beginning to realize that Eiji scared him in ways that he couldn't handle yet.

In a bare instant, pinned by Eiji's stare, Oishi felt that pulse throb of adrenaline inside his stomach twist into something ugly that leapt out of his throat.

"She shouldn't be, Eiji. You're a homo."

Oishi didn't even see the punch coming until it cracked against his jaw. He was too busy staring at those dangerously expressive eyes that shifted from hurt to anger so quickly that Oishi was sure he had imagined the first expression.

He couldn't feel the ground as it rose to meet him, there was only the starburst of pain in his jaw and the ringing in his ear, second to an emotion so intense that for a long moment he was positive that he would puke.

As the ringing cleared Oishi heard Eiji's quickly retreating footfalls as he ran away. He dug his fingers through the grass and into the surprisingly cold soil, physically holding himself back from lunging at Eiji. He hit the ground beneath him with both hands, but the feelings wouldn't dissipate.

Behind the small sports equipment storage Oishi pulled his knees to his chest and sat for a long time.

Oishi stepped into the club room, wondering for a moment why no one was around when practice just finished before those thoughts flew away. He threw off his regular's jacket, which landed somewhere on the floor, and pulled his white practice tee-shirt up over his head, tossing it roughly from one hand to another as he walked over to his bag.

He tossed the wrinkled bit of fabric into his duffle and walked down to the very end of the locker rows. A brief moment of confusion floated through his mind before he managed to reassure himself that this was fine, he needed to walk all the way to the end of the lockers.

It didn't surprise him that he failed to see Eiji until he was nearly on top of him, but the red-head's sudden lunge did.

Oishi was only half aware of the wrists tightly in his grip and Eiji's sting of irrational babble—stayawayfromherstayawayfrommeihateyouihateyouihateyou—he could only feel the inflowing tide of twisted, black emotion.

Oishi felt lips on his own, and it felt like a memory.

He pushed and Eiji flew backwards; far too easy like he weighed less then a thought, and his head snapped back and hit the side of the locker with a sickeningly loud clunk that echoed obscenely off the cement walls of the empty room.

But Oishi wasn't paying any attention to the noise; he could only see pink lips parted in surprise and pain, and in the too dim light of the empty room they glowed.

He didn't feel himself move forward, he was just suddenly there right against Eiji with a vague thought of 'I always wondered if he would…' that trailed off into nothing as he grabbed Eiji's face and pulled it to his suddenly bare groin and watched as his erection disappeared into the other boy's mouth.

The touch was ephemeral; it wasn't near enough and he began to snap his hips forward with Eiji's head wedged between the wall and his thrusts. Eiji's tears nearly undid him and he felt pleasure grow to a keening sweetness.

He couldn't be sure at what point Eiji's mouth and head dissipated into nothing, but there was a moment when he became aware of the sheets around him, the pillow beneath his head.

He didn't turn on the light in the bathroom relying on the dim light from the living room window and familiarity to guide him as he fell to his knees and emptied what little of his picked-at supper he'd managed to swallow into the toilet. He continued to heave long after his stomach was empty, until his abs cramped so badly that his eyes started to stream water.

When the gagging stopped he wrapped his arms around the freezing bowl and sobbed against the toilet seat.


	7. Chapter 6

Morning practice had thankfully been regulars only, but the afternoon practice came far too quickly in Oishi's estimation, far before he was ready to face it, and he thought seriously for most of the day about finding a reason to just not go. He could say he was sick, which he couldn't consider a lie when he felt so twisted in on himself; or he could claim a mound of homework or library work, or that he needed to clean the classroom. He wondered as he ducked between two of the outlying buildings how many practices he'd have to miss before it would be decided that he had quit.

He felt the pit of his stomach drop out of sight as he imagined doing just that, heard in his head the hushed conversations, tried to explain it to the imaginary people that confronted him. Moving his lips as he fielded the questions that rang through mind because no one was around, he couldn't even convince himself why he needed to get away. Perhaps that was saying something.

Oishi forcibly cut off that line of thinking as he felt pain swell in his chest at his thoughts, but he did realize, as he ducked unobtrusively into the clubroom, taking the cowards way out wasn't fair, to himself or to…any others.

He'd walked slowly and the clubroom was already full.

Eiji was already there.

They had, of course, laid claim to adjacent lockers, even bribed one of the second years out of his to get an arrangement this perfect. But as Oishi stripped out of his school pants to pull on his shorts while brushing up against a half-dressed Eiji in the too crowded locker room, part of him wished that they hadn't and the other part…Oishi refused to consider it, not when he was this close.

The white cotton of his practice shirt smelled pleasantly of detergent so he took a deep calming breath that became a weak sob as the fabric was pulled around his head. When he pulled the shirt down past his eyes, Eiji was studying him with a look that said, 'I heard that, dummy. Are you hurt?' And somewhere down deep in his blue eyes but welling up like cool spring water was hurt and sorrow.

'I'm sorry,' they spoke more clearly and purely then any words could express.

Oishi reached up to his own face and trailed his fingers lightly across the bruise on his cheek as if he had just been reminded of its presence, and watched as Eiji's eyes suddenly gleamed in the light of the club room, shaking.

Oishi felt his arms twitch and try to leave his sides, itching with a desire of hold and comfort and protect until his stomach turned at the idea of allowing himself so close to Eiji after everything that had happened between them.

The white shoelaces felt unnaturally thick in Oishi's suddenly clumsy hands as he laced his tennis shoes as quickly as he could, feeling Eiji bend to do the same next to him. He grabbed his racket bag and walked quickly from the club room, pushing his way through other players to step out into the too bright, too chilly day.

"Everybody!" Oishi jumped slightly at his coach's voice echoing off the side of every surrounding building and reverberating back at the team with supernatural force, "Get started with your warm-up drills and start with the posted practice schedule!" Oishi took in the wide eyes of his teammates and felt somewhat mollified that he wasn't the only one who just couldn't get used to the ungodly loud voice of Yagi-cochi.

But the pleased look on Oishi's face was wiped away in a heart beat as he felt his coach walk right up behind him. 

"Oishi, Kikumaru," when their names were spoken all of the energy that he normally used to shout was condensed into what was by the Coach's standards the faintest of whispers. The intensity made Oishi's stomach drop two feet. "I wanna talk to you in my office, now."

He turned and plodded forward, strangely heavy considering he'd just been bouncing on the balls of his feet to warm his muscles. Oishi was hyperaware of Eiji walking close behind him the entire trip up to Yagi-cochi's second story office.

It was silent for the longest three minutes of Oishi's life. Time ticked by from the wall clock as Yagi-cochi simply stared at the both of them sitting in two identical chairs in the middle of the room, clearly set just for this purpose. Their coach paced one way, then back and on and on. It made Oishi dizzy and sick.

In the chair next to him, bare inches separating their bare legs, Oishi felt Eiji start squirming, heard his breath go tense and start coming in gasps, terrified, and the former vice captain had to remind himself three separate times why it was a bad idea to reach out and grab hold of his partner's hand.

Oishi clenched his hands on top of his thighs and studied the space between his knees, his entire body straight and tense, drawing tighter as he became aware that Yagi-cochi had stopped moving.

He still jumped when their coach started talking.

"Now that I have the both of you, I don't know what the hell to even say," there was the slightest bit of chuckle in his voice, but Oishi and Eiji weren't in any sort of position at the moment to appreciate it.

Oishi studied a tiny crack in the tile flooring in front of the left toe of his shoe and felt eyes on him as the silence stretched out long and tight untill it shattered with a sigh.

Yagi-cochi closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose trying to concentrate, then moved forward to squat down on the floor in front what was left of the Golden Pair, moving into their averted lines of sight.

"I need you guys to look at me."

Shocked into compliance by the uncharacteristically human tone the two first-years looked up at their coach in his frog-like position and realized in the same moment that he didn't look nearly old enough to be teaching high school.

They saw for the first time a gentleness about the coach's eyes and the usual stern set of his mouth held an edge of deadly seriousness, and Oishi knew in that moment that he wasn't going to like what their coach was planning to tell them.

"I…" Yagi-cochi started then averted his stare and though for a moment, eyes darkening in concentration, "…let me tell you a story."

Yagi-cochi paused a moment to shift on the balls of his feet, but he didn't stand or sit, instead choosing to remain in his crouched stance.

"Two years ago, I wasn't thrilled to be coming back to Japan, but my student Visa was up so…I know that sounds pretty harsh, but all I could think to myself was 'Ahh man, Japanese tennis is gonna to be crap compared to American tennis. I wanna go back,'" he trailed off with a sigh, "But then I went to the Junior High Nationals and saw the most amazing thing, this pair of second years beating the hell outta everyone. And I realized then that this was exactly where I wanted to be coaching. I spent the next year applying everywhere with a tennis program and working part-time, but I took time off to go see the Junior High Nationals that next year. And that pair of second years was now a pair of third years and…" he broke off suddenly like he suddenly dropped his chain of thought. "When Seigaku High School offered me the job, I…I was too happy to answer, and I hoped, and I was speechless again when you guys showed up on my court nearly half a year ago, ready to play."

He leaned forward, balancing precariously on the tips of his toes, and whispered, "Because, I was a doubles player who never got it right. I tried so many different partners, wanting so bad what you two have…had, but, in the end…"

He looked down at the floor before he started talking again as the players in front of him held their breath. "So you see now," the words, barely said, were inhumanly loud in the tiny room; they made Oishi's heart skip a beat, "how hard it is for me to do this."

A small voice, calling from somewhere in Oishi's chest cried out, 'then don't' as Oishi bit his lip to keep silent.

"I know something happened between you two," Oishi saw his gaze linger briefly on his left cheek, "but what it is is your business, not mine. Kikumaru," he caught eyes with the redhead, "I'm putting you into the singles practice bracket, and Oishi," he looked into wide green eyes, "I'm finding you another partner."

Oishi had been expecting it, how could he have not been, but he thought, in his own panicked and unreasonable way, as those words he'd been dreading left the coach's mouth, that the shock was somehow impossibly made all the worse by the knowing.

"Unless…" Yagi-cochi started again, making both players hung heads spring up, "You can convince me otherwise."

He paused letting the ethereal melody of a second chance float through the air and in the space of those moments Oishi had the time to become fully aware of his breathing and Eiji's.

They were perfectly in time.

And Oishi had the strangest notion that Yagi-cochi was aware of it too, because there was the vaguest suggestion of a smile on his face when he stood up from his crouched position and walked over to the door.

"I'm going to stand right outside that door for the next ten minutes, making sure that no one comes in," the reverse truth was left unspoken, but both players heard it anyway. Yagi-cochi opened the door and paused to look back, a deep tired pain settling into his face, "After that time is up I'll leave to make up a new practice schedule and assume that you think what you have isn't worth a rat's ass."

The click of the door shutting made the air quiver with tension, like a gunshot that rang though the tiny room and trailed off into the silence.

Time ticked away slowly as the silence between the two players became heavy and cloying. Oishi started to draw in air to say something, but choked on the breath when Eiji beat him to it.

"How's your jaw?"

Oishi wondered for one strange panicked moment what he meant before he felt his cheek throb faintly in time with his quickened pulse and remembered.

The words felt stupid in Oishi's mouth, but he forced them out anyway, "Fine, I guess…I don't really notice it."

They sat side by side, too uncomfortable to face one another, staring at the floor, and after a long moment Eiji spoke again, but so quietly, barely a whisper, "I'm sorry."

The words were huge, despite their lack of volume, or maybe because of it. The softness made the apology bigger then just a simple bruised cheek.

"No," Oishi swallowed back the tension in his throat, "I'm the one who should be sorry."

'…for everything.'

But Oishi left it unsaid like so many of his thoughts recently; keeping things from others, keeping them from himself in turn.

Eiji whispered a reply, "It's true though," the admittance so hushed that Oishi was unsure if Eiji had meant to say it out loud. So soft he instinctively thought that he couldn't possibly have heard it and the questioning 'eh?' was out of his mouth before he had a moment to even think.

"What you said…" Eiji sucked in a breath after the words had come tumbling out, "It's true."

They sat for over a minute in silence after that, they could tell because the clock on the wall gave single particularly loud tick, like a heart beating its last, on every minute, as they both waited and hoped the other would talk first.

It was only after the silence was shattered that Oishi realized that he was the one who did.

"I still shouldn't have said it. I…" then suddenly there were too many options and Oishi became lost, trapped in his own words. "I…" am, know, want, lov… "was…" angry, scared, selfish, hurt, jealous… "stupid."

As the words left his mouth, Oishi half-hoped for some type of protest, but wasn't surprised when none came. It was entirely true, he realized, this was a mess and nothing about it could be fixed with good grades and studying.

Oishi let his head hang, lost in his own rapidly spinning world as the seconds ticked away and if it hadn't been for the loud minute tock briefly distracting him from his reverie, he might have never noticed what Eiji had said moments before he'd realized that those were words he was hearing. Oishi's eyes went wide as he heard Eiji in distant echo.

'I don't want it to end.'

He turned slowly to face the other player, his partner. There were tears; tears and determination and that expression on Eiji's face would have absolutely shattered Oishi's resistance, had there been any to begin with.

Oishi's arms itched to reach out and hold close and feel that heart beat in synch with his. He didn't, only folded his hands together and grasped them tightly, but not because he wanted too. He heard another precious minute click past, and the sound of his chance slipping away in ever flying minutes.

"Me neither," he admitted after a long moment, but the words that should have come racing, pouring out were not enough, too little too late. It made the corners of Oishi's eyes sting with suppressed emotion, and that small hurt helped solidify his determination and allowed him to continue.

"I want to play more tennis, lots more tennis, a lifetime of it, but…" he panned his gaze across Eiji's face and let his eyes catch and hold onto Eiji's and felt the truth surely drawn from his lips by the sadness and regret he saw there, "I don't want it if it's not with you."

A startled, question laden, "Oishi…" slipped from Eiji's mouth as it fell open in surprise and he pulled back, pleasantly burned by Oishi's words.

Oishi began to form an answer he felt obligated to give, but only got as far as, "I…" before he realized he didn't understand what he was supposed to say. There were just too many things that he needed to answer for.

There was a long moment where their eyes connected and the tandem of their breathing was the only sound that passed between them and seconds ticked away unnoticed. There was an instant when they realized they were gravitating slowly and inexorably together, falling into place. Eiji's body flashed in heat and he looked away from Oishi, hiding the flush of his face.

He looked at the floor as his thoughts gradually sifted through the jumble of his feelings into something he could put to words. "Don't do that," he pleaded softly, unconvincingly, "It's not fair."

Oishi leaned forward, following his partner, whispering his name in concern.

The redhead drew in a quivering breath, bouncing the flipped ends of his hair with every tiny movement. "I can't," he choked out, "I've tried so hard but I can't change…my feelings."

"I don't want you to change Eiji," Oishi admitted, realizing it was true in that moment.

Eiji mumbled something under his breath that Oishi thought sounded like a protest, but he ignored it, leaning in closer to Eiji, studying the profile of his averted face. "I've missed you Eiji. I've missed…us."

"Me too," his words were soft and genuine

Oishi felt his pulse quicken to a frantic pace, frightened and nervous and Eiji so near he couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

Eiji had barely time enough to feel the pressure on his chin, turning his face up, before the gentle fringe of Oishi's eyelashes filled his vision and there were lips on his own, moving with a barely restrained hunger on his surprise parted mouth.

Then he jerked back, aborting the contact with a near violent reaction. Oishi allowed him to move away pulling back himself and feeling his heart clench painfully at the shocked betrayal in those quivering blue eyes that haunted him every moment he stopped trying to forget.

"What did you want to do, just now?" The question tumbled spontaneously from Oishi's lips as his heart pounded in excitement and apprehension.

"Eh?" The surprise that had never left Eiji's face morphed into confusion at the sudden question.

"Just now," Oishi pressed on, "When I…" the pause hung heavily for a bare instant and they both felt a sharp flare of heat on their faces, "What did that make you want to do."

Eiji turned his lower lip in a thoughtful pout, considering, then, "I just wanted…to get away."

The line of Oishi's mouth curved in triumph and compassion, "And not because you were frightened of me or disgusted, just…surprised?"

And in that moment Eiji spoke the most telling one word answer that either of them had ever heard before.

There was suddenly a grin on Oishi's face and a building wet pressure around his eyes. It felt stupid and cheesy and perfect. Then Eiji turned his face to his partner, lashes darkened and stuck together, eyes brilliantly shiny in the dim light of the office, and a painfully beautiful smile.

The rhythm of Oishi's pulse shuddered in a sharply pleasant sensation. Finally succumbing to a long reined in desire he unobtrusively slid his hand toward Eiji's, fingers eagerly outstretched and searching until he could feel the warmth of the other boy, and he froze, courage abruptly waning as his throat closed tight in panic.

Then there was a hand griping his and strong, sure fingers interlocking with his own. Oishi looked down at their knotted hands, their sticky-damp palms pressed together and in that moment he was himself

The stillness of the moment was shattered by the sudden insistent tock of the clock striking their last minute away. Their gazes locked in twined looks of determination. They rose in tandem and walked side by side, only letting their hands reluctantly fall apart as they opened the door and stepped into the sun brightened hallway.

Yagi-cochi looked at them both but said nothing. He just turned and began to walk down the hall towards the courts, but he couldn't avert his face quickly enough to entirely hide the deep, wide curve of his mouth.

They walked together out into the practice area where the scheduled practice games were in progress, their coach leading the way they walked right up to the fence and peered through the steel links.

Every spectator's eyes were instantly drawn to the pair, games forgotten and then the games themselves slowly ground to a stop as each volley ended. And then at last, when the volley between the Captain and the Vice Captain ended, and every single eye weighed heavily upon them, Oishi and Eiji looked at each other. They nodded together as a wordless agreement passed between them and they looked back at the questioning stares of the entire Seigaku High School Tennis Club.

There was a deep hush that every player sensed as an almost physical sensation, then Eiji raised his hand in a triumphant fist.

"Seigaku's Golden Pair! Fight, O!"

The roar of applause from the team built to a swift crescendo which turned into cheers, and Eiji and Oishi could only stare back in wonder and joy at the rally of the team.

They turned to each other for support in the same instant, each raised his right hand instinctively and they brought them together.

And the only person who noticed, from behind his nearly curved closed eyelids, that their hands lingered together too long for it to really be just a high-five only clapped louder.


End file.
